Trickling filter floor construction



Oct. 18, 1932..

J. G. BARBOUR TRICKLING FILTER FLOOR QONS'IRUCTIQN Filed July 12. 1930 Patented Oct. 18, 1932 NITED srares PATENT OFFICE, I

JAMES e. HARBOUR, or. CANTON, on'ro', AssIGNon TO THE METROPOLITAN PAVING" I BRICK corsrnnv, or cAn'ron, orrro, A conrone'rron or OHIO TRIGKLING FILTER FLOOR CONSTRUCTION Applicationnfiled July 12', 1930. iserial Np. 467,517.

The invention relates to improvements in false or open'fioor construction for trickling filter beds and more particularly to improvements in the trickling filter floor construction set forth in my companion application for Letters Patent, executed and filedtherewith.

Such trickling; filters include a tile floor structure above which is located atrickling filter bed of coarse material such as clinker, gravel or broken stone, through which sewage efiluent may trickle in thin films for aerating and purifying the same before it'is discharged into an open water course.

In the operation of trickling filter floors, the sewage is purified by the action of bacteria which form upon the floor construction and it is necessary, to the life-of the bacteria that the same be thoroughly aerated or oxidized. I

In myprior applications, above referred to, the floor structure is made of hollow tiles, each having a base wall with upright side walls at its edges, inwardly disposed top walls at the upper edges of the side walls and spaced from each other at their inner edges, and a substantially circular or tubular trough wall connected to the inner edges of the top walls, thefilter bed being supported upon the top walls of the tiles. V

The object of the'present improvement is to provide a tile for filter floors which saves material and weight as compared with the tile above described; which is easier to manufacture and more readily laid up. than my former tiles; in which the shrinkage and Warping dueto drying, and burning of the tile is reduced to a minimum; and in which a maximum of aerating efi'ectis obtained.

The above and other'objects may be at: tained by forming each of the improved tiles with a flat, wide base wall, a substantially half-circular side wall extending upward from each side of the base a wall, and 'a central pier wall extending upward from the median line of the base wall; there bein a to) wall extendin across said' ion ing part hereof, in which when a plurality of the tiles are laid together, side by side, the adjacent concaved side walls will form substantially circular or tubular drainage troughs, each having a narrow longitudinal slot in its upper side, forming a communication between the filter bed and the troughs. 1

An embodiment of the invention is'illustrated in the accompanying drawing form- Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing details of the floor construction; and

Fig. 2, an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of one of the improved tiles.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawing.

r In building atrickling filter floor constr11ction with the improved tiles, a cement or concrete bed or' foundation 10 may first be laid upon the ground, of sufficient thickness and upon a suitable foundation, for supporting the entire load of the floor structure and filter bed imposed thereon.

The ;top surface 11 of this concrete bed should befinishedin a smoothpla-ne with a sufficient inclination or slope, lengthwise of the drainage troughs, to insure a prompt and free flow of purified effluent alongthe same to any suitable outlet,'such as is customarilyprovided in filter floor construction,

r A series of laterally arranged rows of tiles 12 is laid end to end and side by side upon the flat face 11 of the concrete bed 10, each" of these tiles cooperating with the next adjacent tile to form a complete. filter floor unit in itself.

' Each tile is hollow and may comprise the fiat wide bottomwall13, the concaved substantially semicircular sidewalls 14 extend ing upward from' the side edges of the base wall, thev central pier wall 15 extending'upe ward from the median line of the base wall, and the top wall 17 preferably inclined outward in both directions from the top of the pier wall and connected at its outer edges to the upper edges of the concaved walls 14, the top width of the tile being preferably slightly less than thebase Width thereof;

As shown in Fig. 1, when the tiles are laid together, to form a filter floor, the narrow side edges 18 at the bases of adjoining tiles are the only portions of the tiles which abut each other, there being provided narrow slots 19 between the tops of adjacent tiles coinmunicating with the substantially circular drainage troughs 20, formed by the opposed concaved side walls 14 of adjacent tiles.

It has been found that by providing only the narrow abutting edges 18 the tiles can be laid together more readily and easily, and to better effect, than is possible with the substantially wide fiat side walls shown in my prior application above referred to.

Further it has been found that the varia-- tion produced by shrinkage and warping due to drying and burning of the tiles is considerably less with this form of tile than with the tile disclosed in my prior application.

A further advantage is the reduction in weight and material as compared with my prior tile, as in the present case the vertical pier wall 15 answers the purpose of the two vertical side walls in the former tile, thus eliminating the weight and material contained in one of said vertical side walls.

' When laid together as shown in Fig. 1, the smooth flat bases 13 of the blocks rest upon the concrete foundation and entirely cover the same for filtering purposes.

The narrow slots 19 formed between the tops of adjacent tiles are of such width as to prevent the larger pieces of drainage material 21 from passing through the same, so that the lower layer of filtering material is properly supported upon the floor, while the smaller pieces of the filtering material are properly supported upon the larger pieces thereof, through all of which the sewage efliuent may be filtered in well known manner.

7 For the purpose of the invention these tiles are preferably formed of vitreous material with the wide base wall formed the full width of the tile for bearing upon the flat face of the concrete bed, and to facilitate the forming, drying and burning of the same, as well as to reduce the weight and cost, the tiles may be provided with a plurality of longitudinal openings 22.

In constructing the filter floor the joints 23 between the abutting narrow edges 18 at the bases of adjacent tiles may be closed with mortar, cement or the like in order to produce a closed drainage trough between each adjacent pair of tiles.

Because of the fact that two tiles located side by side form each drainage trough, it has been found desirable in constructing a filter floor to use half tiles, as shown at'24, at each side of the floor, each of these half tiles being formed in the same manner as one half of each of the unitary tiles above described.

From the above it will be seen that a trickling filter floor tile is produced which has considerably less weight than the tile in my prior application above referred to, thus reducing the material and therefore the cost of manufacture.

It will also be seen that the narrow slots 19 7 between adjacent tiles permit'thin films of the sewage efiiuent to filter from the filter bed into the troughs, obtaining a maximum of aerating effect for the oxidation of the bacterial which is essential to the purifying of the sewage.

It should be understood that whether the improved filter floor unit is made of a hollow tile or solid block, with concave side walls, and adapted to be placed side by'side to form substantially tubular drainage troughs with longitudinal slots at their upper portions, the width of these slots may be controlled by the spacing of the blocks 1 laterally from each other and the width of the cement or mortar joint between the lower edges of adjacent blocks.

I claim:

1. A trickling filter floor made of hollow semicircular concave side walls extending upward from the side edges of the base walls, a central pier wall extending upward from the base wall, and a downwardly inclined top wallv extending from the top edge of the pier wall to the top edge of each side wall, the tiles being laid side by side and slightly spaced at the top edges, the concave side walls of adjacent tiles forming substantially tubular drainage troughs with longitudinal slots at their upper portions.

3. A trickling filter floor made of hollow tiles having wide base walls, substantially semicircular concave side walls extending upward from the side edges of the base walls, a central pier wall extending upward from the base wall, and a top wall extending from the top edges of the pier wall to the top edges of the side walls, the top wall of each tile being slightly narrower than the base wall thereof, the tiles being laid side by side and slightly spaced at the top edges, the concave side walls of adjacent tiles forming substantially tubular drainage troughs with longitudinal slots at their upper portions.

4. A trickling filter floor made of hollow tiles each having a wide base wall and substantially semicircular concave side walls, the tiles being laid end to end and side by side and laterally spaced at their top edges to form longitudinally extending, substantially tubular drainage troughs with'longitudinal slots at their upper portions, the widths of the slots being controlled by the lateral spacing of the blocks from each other.

5. A trickling filter floor made of hollow tiles each having a wide base'wall, substan tially semicircular concave side walls, and a top wall narrower than the base wall, the

tiles being laid end to end andside by side and laterally spaced at their top edges to form longitudinally extending substantially l tubular drainage troughs with longitudinal slots at their upper portions, the widths of the slots being controlled by the lateral spacing of the blocks from eachother.

In testimony that I claim the above, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JAMES G. BARBOUR} 

